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As President Donald Trump reaches the magic 100-day mark in office, new polling and statistics show that many American’s believe he’s getting the job done.

According to Lifezette, approximately 73 percent of American voters approve of President Trump’s performance in fighting for American jobs in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released this past Sunday.

“Among those who report having voted for him in November, 96 percent today say it was the right thing to do; a mere 2 percent regret it. And if a rerun of the election were held today, the poll indicates even the possibility of a Trump victory in the popular vote among 2016 voters.”

The poll surveyed over 1000 voters, with the goal of measuring President Trump’s performance during his first 100 days in office. The poll also showed that a significant majority of Americans believe the President is keeping the pressure on U.S. based companies to keep jobs in the country, and 53 percent see the President as a strong leader.

Credit: Heather’s Homilies.

In addition, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that over the first 100 days, the unemployment rate for 16-24 rear olds has decreased from 10.1 percent to 9.1 percent; the rate for 20-24 year olds has decreased from 8.3 percent to 7.3 percent, and the rate for 25-34 year olds has decreased from 4.9 percent to 4.5 percent.

Over 317,000 non-farm jobs have been created, and there have been surges in both the construction and manufacturing sectors.

“Confidence is playing a large role,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.

“Businesses are anticipating a lot of good stuff – tax cuts, less regulation. They are hiring more aggressively.”

April 26 marks First Lady Melania Trump’s birthday, shown here in a photo with her husband, President Donald Trump and their son, Barron. Credit: People, shown under fair use guidelines.

A View from the Industry

Todd Lamb.

Even with the progress that’s been made, President Trump still faces an uphill battle. While there are certainly skeptics in the industry, MHProNews routinely hears from those who are happy and encouraged by the president’s efforts and actions.

MHARR CEO, M. Mark Weiss, JD, shared similar thoughts with MHProNews in a story, linked here. MHARR’s top staff have praised the early Trump Administration efforts, as the video shown above demonstrates.

L A ‘Tony’ Kovach, credit, MHVillage.

“As well as the markets and new job creation are already responding to his initiatives, where could we be if there wasn’t a non-stop assault on our new president?” said MHProNews and MHLivingNews Publisher L.A. “Tony” Kovach.

Back in November, Tim Williams told MHProNews that, “I am deeply encouraged that less than 24 hours into President Trump’s term, he has frozen new, potentially burdensome regulations.” For his full comments, click here.

For more on the progress of the Trump Administration, including proposed budget cuts to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), click here. ##

(Image credits are as shown above, and when provided by third parties, are shared under fair use guidelines.)

In the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released last week, homebuilder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes jumped six points to a level of 71, the highest it has been since June 2005.

According to Eye On Housing, one of the reasons for the increased confidence is that builders have started to realize benefits from President Trump’s actions on regulatory reform, specifically his recent executive order to rescind or revise the “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule that affects permitting.

The rule extended the areas in which homebuilders are required to get permits, often interfering with state and local regulatory authority. Recently, two courts have issued a temporary halt.

Granger McDonald. Credit: Builder Magazine.

“NAHB commends President Trump for listening to our serious concerns about the flawed WOTUS rule that goes so far as to regulate man-made ditches and isolated ponds on private property,” said NAHB President Granger MacDonald at the signing ceremony for the executive order in February.

“This is an important first step towards fixing the flawed regulation and working towards a more sensible WOTUS rulemaking.”

Credit: NAHB.

In the index, all three HMI components showed sold gains in March, with current sales conditions increasing seven points to 78, sales expectations over the next six months rising five points to 78m and buyer traffic jumping eight points to 54.

While the numbers are positive, they do come with some guidance.

“While builders are clearly confident, we expect some moderation in the index moving forward. Builders continue to face a number of challenges, including rising material prices, higher mortgage rates, and shortages of lots and labor,” the NAHB said in a statement.

“The HMI also benefited from unseasonably warm weather at the start of 2017, improving both demand and construction conditions.”

The Housing Market Index from NAHB is derived from a monthly survey which has been conducted for 30 years, and gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months.

The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers, and scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good, as opposed to poor.

As Daily Business News readers are already aware, manufactured housing continues to offer one of the most practical and affordable solutions to providing a chance at the American dream for those who wish to own a home.

The titans of business recognize the opportunity as well, as giants and independents alike are actually “doubling down” on the industry.

ELS Chairman Sam Zell has been famously quoted as correcting misconceptions about the industry, saying during this interview, “Everyone calls them trailer parks. Pencil head,it’s not a trailer park.“

For more on manufactured housing being the solution that’s hiding in plain sight, see MHProNews and MHLivingNews Publisher L.A. “Tony” Kovach’s insight into the opportunity linked here. ##

A further breakdown shows that service jobs led the way at 193,000, with 66,000 coming from professional and business services and 38,000 from health care.

Companies with 50 to 499 employees added the most with 122,000, while small firms added 104,000 and large contributed 72,000.

Distractions, Dodges, Delays and Disruptions

Even with job growth, President Trump still faces staunch opposition, distractions, dodges, delays and disruptions.

Billionaire George Soros, who supported Hillary Clinton to the tune of almost $10 million to super PACs, along with connections to funding of Black Lives Matter and other “rent-a-riot” organizations, made his position crystal clear in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

George Soros at Davos. Credit: CNBC.

“I personally am convinced that he is going to fail,” said Soros.

“Failure will come not because of people like me who would like him to fail, but because his ideas that guide him are inherently self-contradictory and the contradictions are already embodied by his advisors.“

Soros then elaborated on his comments.

“I have described him as an impostor and a con man and a would-be dictator,” said Soros.

“But he’s only a would-be dictator because I’m confident that the Constitution and the institutions of the United States are strong enough. He would be a dictator if he could get away with it, but he won’t be able to.“

But, not every billionaire sees Trump in a negative light.

Sam Zell, ELS Chair, credit, MHProNews.

“I think Donald Trump is very smart and has a unique opportunity to change things and lead this country,” said ELS Chairman Sam Zell.

“And I think this country desperately is looking for somebody to give us leadership.”

Impact on MHVille

While the anti-trump side of the media spotlights the Soros-backed “rent-a-riot” protests, businesses are investing billions more in the U.S., and job growth continues, all based upon President Trump’s economic policies.

Credit: CNBC.

“As well as the markets and new job creation are already responding to his initiatives, where could we be if there wasn’t a non-stop assault on our new president?” said MHProNews and MHLivingNews Publisher L.A. “Tony” Kovach.

L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach is the publisher of MHProNews.com, MHLivingNews.com and MH Consultant.

Back in November, Tim Williams told MHProNews that, “I am deeply encouraged that less than 24 hours into President Trump’s term, he has frozen new, potentially burdensome regulations.” For his full comments, click here.

According to Housing Wire, insufficient supply levels and contract activity in the West and Midwest decreased, bringing down pending home sales to their lowest level in a year.

The Pending Home Sales Index is a “forward looking indicator,” based on contract signings, and was down 2.8 percent to 106.4 in January, from 109.5 in December.

“The significant shortage of listings last month along with deteriorating affordability as the result of higher home prices and mortgage rates kept many would-be buyers at bay,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

Lawrence Yun. Credit: The Business Journals.

“Buyer traffic is easily outpacing seller traffic in several metro areas and is why homes are selling at a much faster rate than a year ago. Most notably in the West, it’s not uncommon to see a home come off the market within a month.”

The demand is so high that buying interest hit its highest point since the Great Recession of 2008.

“As households grow more confident in their personal finances and job growth continues throughout the country, home sales increase across the country,” said Yun.

While this news is positive, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

“January’s accelerated price appreciation is concerning because it’s over double the pace of income growth and mortgage rates are up considerably from six months ago,” said Yun.

“Especially in the most expensive markets, prospective buyers will feel this squeeze to their budget and will likely have to come up with additional savings or compromise on home size or location.”

The NAR reports shows that existing home sales are projected to hit 5.57 million for the year, which is an increase of 2.2 percent from 2016, while the national median existing-home price is expected to increase 4 percent. This is compared to 2016 when existing homes sales increased almost four percent and home prices rose over five percent.

“Sales got off to a fantastic start in January, but last month’s retreat in contract signings indicates that activity will likely be choppy in coming months as buyers compete for the meager number of listings in their price range,” said Yun. ##